Porsche Cayenne Hybrid Offers V8 Performance With Speeds Of 86 MPH

By: Mary Smith
Staff Writer
Published: Mar 24, 2009

Porsche announces its new Cayenne S Hybrid electric car which offers buyers a high-performance solution that can drive at speeds up to 86 mph. The vehicle is set to launch in 2010.

Porsche Cars North America, Inc has announced its new Cayenne S Hybrid electric car which offers buyers a high-performance solution. The vehicle can drive at highway speeds of up to 86 mph without using its combustion engine. The company will launch the new Hybrid car in 2010.

"When driving with just the combustion engine, the Hybrid Manager also will ensure the engine is operating as efficiently as possible in reference to its load. It switches the electric motor to an alternator mode, so the fuel consumed by the combustion engine not only efficiently powers the Cayenne but also generates electricity that can be 'parked' in the NiMH battery," a Porsche spokesman said.

The Cayenne S is more likely to become the best energy efficient Hybrid car made by Porsche.

This isn't like any standard electric car. This vehicle delivers V8 performance while maintaining a four-cylinder efficiency. It uses a full parallel hybrid design with a programmable motor acting as a cross between the main engine and the transmission.

"Using a parallel full hybrid design with the electric motor between the combustion engine and the transmission, Porsche engineers have been able to drive at speeds up to 86 mph without at all using the combustion engine," the spokesperson said.

The Cayenne S Hybrid car is probably the best high-performance car to run at top speeds. Modern electric solutions are designed only for in-town travel or city traffic. However, this vehicle is built for the highway without using its engine which can reduce C02 emissions by 20 percent.

Porsche engineers designed the car to move 0-to-100 km/h in just 6.8 seconds. This is achievable by using a small percentage of its engine while slowly depending on the battery once it's cruising. This design certainly must have other automakers, such as GM, Ford, and Chrysler, re-thinking high-performance while offering fuel efficiency.

"The Cayenne S Hybrid uses a supercharged Audi 3.0-liter V6 engine with Direct Fuel Injection (DFI), 333 horsepower and 324 lb-ft of torque from 2,900 to 5,300 rpm. It is mated with 52-horsepower three-phase synchronous electric motor that produces up to 221 lb-ft of torque and also acts as an alternator, and the combined power units are joined to an eight-speed automatic transmission," the spokesperson said.

Hybrid Manager is a new technology which decides when to turn on and off the engine. For example, if the vehicle is coasting on the highway, it will turn off the engine while delivering more power from its batteries. This technology is known as parallel full hybrid and offers three classic modes.